2007 50 Book Challange
Dark Phoenix
This book is exactly what the title says it is: a description of what
happens to the human body as it dies of various diseases. The author, a
surgeon who has practiced and taught for many years, gives into philosophy
at times, but mostly it's a recitation of the facts. Heart disease, cancer,
AIDS, Alzheimer's, trauma and just plain wearing out of old age are giving
their turns. The book is not gruesome (okay, the story of the first death he
attended is rather vivid) but just plain spoken, written in layman's
language and sparing nothing. I found it not depressing, but if anyone
reading it still had illusions of their immortality at the start, they will
surely have lost it by the end.
Despite having attended three human deaths, and been around other dying
people, I had a lot of questions about what was actually going on the bodies
of these people. This book filled in a lot of the gaps.
--
Laurie Brown, Dark Phoenix
dark_p...@netw.com
Dark Phoenix
One of the very first Discworld novels, this story tells us how the
Librarian became an orangutan, how Rincewind came to join forces with The
Luggage (I can't bring myself to say "owned" when The Luggage is such a
personality in it's own right), and that Death does indeed have some
friends. This one takes on fantasy novels, making fun of Conan, the
red-haired female hero in Marvel comics whose name I forget right now, and
various stories which use magical stores that disappear after one has bought
something in them. You can see Pratchett finding his way to the style that
he's perfected now.
Dark Phoenix
Wrede takes the classic fairy tale and sets it in Elizabethan England. Dr.
Dee, the Queen's astrologer, and Ned Kelly, his sometime friend, have
important parts in the novel, but the main characters are a widow who is an
herbalist and -gasp! -knows how to read, her two daughters (Rosamund &
Blanche), and two princes of fairy. The humans find themselves forced to
work magic without getting accused of witchcraft, a real risk in that time.
The story is well done- the people are characters, not caricatures; the
different threads weave together nicely. An engaging novel.
Dark Phoenix
This is one of those novels that make me want to grab the characters by the
shirt front, shake them, and say "Would you for crisakes stop and *think*
about what you're doing for a minute?!?" Two of the main characters- Nate &
Lesje- just sort of flounder along, becoming involved with each other
basically because of boredom rather than any real attraction. Nate and
Elizabeth, long married and living together at the start but emotionally
connected only by their children, show signs of wanting to heal the
relationship but make no moves to do so, because they are not in the habit
of talking to each other. Lesje allows Nate to dictate her life rather than
bother to decide what she actually wants. This book seems to be a warning to
examine one's life or you'll end up as miserable as these people. A
thoroughly aggravating read.
Dark Phoenix
Eva McEwen's childhood is complicated by a pair of ghosts. Her mother died
at Eva's birth, and she is being raised by her father & aunt. It's a lonely
existence, as the ghosts don't want Eva to tell anyone about them, and she
feels that anyone she is close to must be told about them. Through the
years, she finds out a few things about who they were and why they have
become her guardians. While she hates the loneliness they cause her, they
are also her companions who even help her at times - a couple of times
actually helping her get dates!- especially at the end. A moving book of
love and loss.
Troia
So, IOW, a reasonable reflection of real life as it is for too many people?
-- Troia
Dark Phoenix
"Troia" <troia....@gmail.removethis.com> wrote in message
news:45e64fed$0$97217$892e...@authen.yellow.readfreenews.net...
Sadly, yes. Those frustrating, non-self examining people.
Troia
> Sadly, yes. Those frustrating, non-self examining people.
>
>
I am either glad or sorry to report that I know nothing about being that
way!!
-- Troia
(or both)
enigma
news:NMKdncZiAIcM03vY...@povn.com:
Red Sonja?
and, having purchased something from a magical store that
disappeared, i'm not quite sure they're something to poke fun
at. trying to find it again was most frustrating & confusing.
lee <enjoys Discworld>
--
Question with boldness even the existence of god; because if
there be
one, he must more approve the homage of reason than that of
blindfolded
fear. - Thomas Jefferson
Rowanberry
I love this book, love it madly. I had a copy when I was 16, and read
it probably three or four times that year, but then lost it when I
left home. Now, having been reminded for the second time in a week
that I want it back, I will have to start really looking again.
~Kit, like I can fit more books in here
Dark Phoenix
"enigma" <eni...@evil.net> wrote in message
news:Xns98E6548BE4AF...@199.125.85.9...
> "Dark Phoenix" <dark_p...@netw.com> wrote in
> news:NMKdncZiAIcM03vY...@povn.com:
>
>> The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchett. Colin Smythe Ltd.
>> 1986.
>>
>>
>>
>> One of the very first Discworld novels, this story tells us
>> how the Librarian became an orangutan, how Rincewind came
>> to join forces with The Luggage (I can't bring myself to
>> say "owned" when The Luggage is such a personality in it's
>> own right), and that Death does indeed have some friends.
>> This one takes on fantasy novels, making fun of Conan, the
>> red-haired female hero in Marvel comics whose name I forget
>> right now, and various stories which use magical stores
>> that disappear after one has bought something in them. You
>> can see Pratchett finding his way to the style that he's
>> perfected now.
>
> Red Sonja?
> and, having purchased something from a magical store that
> disappeared, i'm not quite sure they're something to poke fun
> at. trying to find it again was most frustrating & confusing.
Yes, Red Sonja. I couldn't beleive that I couldn't come up with her name,
given that she was one of my all time favorite characters, despite the
stupid chainmail bikini she wore, even in snow.
Did what you bought at the magic shop change your entire life?
Dark Phoenix
"Rowanberry" <delirio...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1172773481.4...@k78g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> On Feb 28, 7:55 pm, "Dark Phoenix" <dark_phoe...@netw.com> wrote:
>> Snow White and Rose Red, by Patricia C. Wrede. Tor, 1989
>>
>> Wrede takes the classic fairy tale and sets it in Elizabethan England.
>> Dr.
>> Dee, the Queen's astrologer, and Ned Kelly, his sometime friend, have
>> important parts in the novel, but the main characters are a widow who is
>> an
>> herbalist and -gasp! -knows how to read, her two daughters (Rosamund &
>> Blanche), and two princes of fairy. The humans find themselves forced to
>> work magic without getting accused of witchcraft, a real risk in that
>> time.
>>
>> The story is well done- the people are characters, not caricatures; the
>> different threads weave together nicely. An engaging novel.
>
> it probably three or four times that year, but then lost it when I
> left home. Now, having been reminded for the second time in a week
> that I want it back, I will have to start really looking again.
If you can't find it quickly, give me a yell. I can send you this one; I
liked it, but I don't think I'll reread it, and I'm making some attempt to
thin books out a bit.
--
Laurie Brown, Dark Phoenix
enigma
> Yes, Red Sonja. I couldn't beleive that I couldn't come up
> with her name, given that she was one of my all time
> favorite characters, despite the stupid chainmail bikini
> she wore, even in snow.
heh. gotta love chainmail bikinis. *so* practical ;)
Michael did some covers for the Red Sonja comics, but that's
not me. i'm on a paperback cover & the covers for Donna Mia
(the first series) & my hands are on a Witchcraft cover...
> Did what you bought at the magic shop change your entire
> life?
i don't think so. i bought it as a gift for my father. he
still has it.
lee
Dark Phoenix
> "Dark Phoenix" <dark_p...@netw.com> wrote in
> news:4MudnSC_1bN8gnrY...@povn.com:
>
>> Yes, Red Sonja. I couldn't beleive that I couldn't come up
>> with her name, given that she was one of my all time
>> favorite characters, despite the stupid chainmail bikini
>> she wore, even in snow.
>
> heh. gotta love chainmail bikinis. *so* practical ;)
> Michael did some covers for the Red Sonja comics, but that's
> not me. i'm on a paperback cover & the covers for Donna Mia
> (the first series) & my hands are on a Witchcraft cover...
>
What's this? Please tell more!
enigma
>> that's not me. i'm on a paperback cover & the covers for
>> Donna Mia (the first series) & my hands are on a
>> Witchcraft cover...
>>
>
> What's this? Please tell more!
there's a Red Sonja comic coming out (shipping in April). Red
Sonja: Vacant Shell. it has 2 covers, one by Paul Renaud &
one by Michael Kaluta:
http://www.redsonja.com/htmlfiles/c-Red_Sonja_One_Shot.html
and this is (an imaginative interpretation <g>) of me:
http://www.mv.com/users/enigma/gifs/a.jpg
on the cover of Donna Mia #1. i actually prefer the cover to
#2, but Michael is still holding that & #3 (he's doing some
repainting on #3, because i asked him to change the hair
color back to red. the guys that wrote DM wanted her to have
black hair). so anyway, i don't have scans of #2 & the only
copy i have of #3 is a scan of the inks that Michael sent me.
i bought all 3 covers from him, but i only have #1 here.
i'm a huge fan of his art.
lee <http://www.kaluta.com>
Dark Phoenix
> there's a Red Sonja comic coming out (shipping in April). Red
> Sonja: Vacant Shell. it has 2 covers, one by Paul Renaud &
> one by Michael Kaluta:
> http://www.redsonja.com/htmlfiles/c-Red_Sonja_One_Shot.html
>
> and this is (an imaginative interpretation <g>) of me:
> http://www.mv.com/users/enigma/gifs/a.jpg
>
> on the cover of Donna Mia #1. i actually prefer the cover to
> #2, but Michael is still holding that & #3 (he's doing some
> repainting on #3, because i asked him to change the hair
> color back to red. the guys that wrote DM wanted her to have
> black hair). so anyway, i don't have scans of #2 & the only
> copy i have of #3 is a scan of the inks that Michael sent me.
> i bought all 3 covers from him, but i only have #1 here.
> i'm a huge fan of his art.
> lee <http://www.kaluta.com>
>
weakness for fantasy art. And you are gorgeous!
Generalissimo Fascinet
Kaluta's always been really good.
I can't remember where I remember him from.
I thought it was from old horror comics.
All of the stuff I see on the website is from after the time period I
would have seen it.
-F
enigma
news:1172864718.1...@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com:
> Kaluta's always been really good.
>
> I can't remember where I remember him from.
he did a lot of work for DC, from the 70s on. the Studio
stuff was from the 70s (with Barry Windsor-Smith, Jeff Jones &
Charles Vess).
>
> I thought it was from old horror comics.
Conan? Beyond the Nightmare? House of Mystery or House of
Secrets?
the Shadow?
> All of the stuff I see on the website is from after the
> time period I would have seen it.
there's a softcover, The Michael Wm. Kaluta Treasury, that
lists & has B&Ws of a lot of his earlier stuff.
lee
Dark Phoenix
> he did a lot of work for DC, from the 70s on. the Studio
> stuff was from the 70s (with Barry Windsor-Smith, Jeff Jones &
> Charles Vess).
Is Barry Windsor-Smith the same as Barry Smith who did the first couple of
years of the Conan comic book?
Tetsab
> This is one of those novels that make me want to grab the characters
> by the shirt front, shake them, and say "Would you for crisakes stop
> and *think* about what you're doing for a minute?!?"
But the Most Important question is did you want to shake them more or
the motley crew from _The Robber Bride_?
Tetsab.
>^..^<
enigma
>
> "enigma" <eni...@evil.net> wrote in message
> news:Xns98E7CE816F90...@199.125.85.9...
>> he did a lot of work for DC, from the 70s on. the Studio
>> stuff was from the 70s (with Barry Windsor-Smith, Jeff
>> Jones & Charles Vess).
>
> Is Barry Windsor-Smith the same as Barry Smith who did the
> first couple of years of the Conan comic book?
yup... although there was some, um, trading of work during
the Studio days, so some of Barry's pencils were actually
inked by Michael & vice versa.
it's interesting comparing how their styles have changed (yet
are still similar in ways) over the years. of the 4, i'd say
Jeff Jones has the most different style, because he works
mostly on canvas instead of pen & ink with watercolor.
Dark Phoenix
"Tetsab" <tet...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:esb5en$geg$1...@registered.motzarella.org...
Boy, that's a really tough one! But I think I might take Robber_Moose before
Moose_Before_Man, because at least in Bride, *one* person was thinking about
what she was doing, albeit doing evil. The other women in it, though, were
just letting life happen to them.
Dark Phoenix
A strange, sad book about strange, sad people. Hoffman works magical realism
with her usual grace, but this book is a darker one than most of her work.
On the night of her father's funeral, 17 year old, friendless Arlyn decides
that the first man she sees will be her destiny and the love of her life. As
luck will have it, self centered architecture student John comes to the door
to ask directions. They make love, and then, with Arlyn sleeping, he leaves.
Determined, she sells the house- which, because of her father's medical
bills, nets her nothing- and pursues him to his college dorm. He tells her
he's busy, but she waits, they make love, and then, with her sleeping, he
leaves for his family home. Still determined, she gets John's roommate to
drive her up to the family home, and she actually beats him there. John
arrives to find her making dinner with his mother. At this, John gives up.
They marry and have a child, but he is never home and he ignores Arlyn and
actively dislikes his odd, silent son. Arlyn, miserable, has an affair that
leaves her pregnant, but is afraid to leave John for fear he'll take her son
from her- a plot device that doesn't ring true, as John clearly doesn't like
his son. Shortly after giving birth, Arlyn dies. The rest of the book is
about people being unhappy, whether they be ghost or living. Most of the
people refuse to grow and change, preferring to stay in their misery,
letting their pasts ruin their futures. One person breaks past this; three
more are shown to be working on this. While it's a book about quiet
desperation, we are given hope.
--
Laurie Brown, Dark Phoenix
Dark Phoenix
This novel has a very different feel from Skylight Confessions, which was
written four years after this one. Skylight is dark, with only a few rays of
sunlight breaking through; Future, although having dark foundations, ends
with everyone living happily ever after. A little too happily, really; some
people's characters have to change totally to achieve this conclusion.
The women of the Sparrow family all are born in Spring and all have some
supernatural ability- the first Sparrow woman could not feel pain, another
can tell a lie no matter how skillfully told, one can see other people's
dreams; the main character, Stella, comes into her power at 13 by seeing how
people will meet their deaths. This ability sets into motion one of the main
threads of the story: she sees a young woman murdered, and begs her good for
nothing father to intervene. Surprisingly, he tries; predictably, he fails;
and the young woman is killed. But because he had gone to the police to try
and stop the murder, he is now a suspect.
The main theme of this book is change: the father changes his character and
gets a second chance at love; Stella sees that her ability to see death
means that some of those deaths can be averted; parents and offspring change
how they react to each other and get to know each other before it's too
late; a couple of characters change what they consider acceptable in a love
interest and get to be happy. I enjoyed seeing people make the effort to
change instead of just plunging on to their fates like in so many stories; I
would have enjoyed the book a lot more if the ended hadn't had been such a
deus ex machine routine.
--
Laurie Brown, Dark Phoenix
Dark Phoenix
Isadora Myung Hee Sohn - Isa- is the daughter of Korean immigrants. They are
living the American dream in 1970s suburbia. Her father is a college
professor; her mother, a beautiful stay at home wife. There isn't much
communication at home, and when Isa's baby brother is killed by a truck, Isa
feels that her parent's love and value the dead son much more than they do
the live daughter. Isa is not beautiful like her mother,- who encourages her
to save for an operation to make her eyes more Caucasian looking- nor as
gifted at math and science as her father. Add to this the racism she
experiences at school, and Isa becomes an outsider with one friend -who's
loosely organized family becomes a refuge for Isa- and an albino boyfriend
who is even more of an outsider than she.
You would think that, given this situation, Isa would learn that tolerance
is important. But when she discovers her mother is having an affair, she
proves herself to be as intolerant as everyone else. This has tragic
consequences for Isa and her family, and her coming of age finishes in a
burn ward and at her friend's parents house, as she realizes that there is
nothing new in the world; that we only think there is because it's new to
us, and that we are as our parent's make us.
*******
Caught up at last! And *not* reporting on the incredibly boring computer
books I've been reading.
--
Laurie Brown, Dark Phoenix
Dark Phoenix
Yes, I'm having quite a Hoffman fest lately. Don't worry, folks, after this
one I only have one more laying on the floor unread, then you get a break.
This book is fairly unique among Hoffman's work in that there is no
supernatural events. Very, very implausible, but not supernatural.
In a small Massachusetts town, Ethan is considered the ideal husband. He's
extremely good looking, is a contractor who does great work, is the bravest
man in the volunteer fire department, and coaches Little League. He came out
of nowhere, a man with no past and no family. He is married to Jorie, the
town's prettiest woman and they are still hopelessly in love after 13 years.
Turns out this nauseatingly perfect man is a wanted man, who before coming
to town had murdered and raped -in that order- a 15 year old girl. He was a
self-centered psychopath who didn't think anything should be denied him. How
did this monster turn into the man everyone admired? How did his character
change so totally?
Well, it didn't, actually. As his wife realizes that he really is what he's
been accused of being, her visits to jail become sparse. Missing her
worshipful gaze, he turns to a teenaged admirer who is working on his
defense fund. He hasn't really changed at all; with Jorie, he had what he
wanted and she never said no to him. Had she not taken him home with her the
first night they met, she might have met the same fate as his teenaged
victim.
While Ethan hasn't changed, other people change a lot. Jorie stands on her
own feet. Their 12 year old son has to grow up too fast. Other people find
love at long last, and some find that sometimes you have to save your
family, no matter how annoying they are.
Characterizations are uneven; some people are vividly drawn, while some are
just sort of filling space. A good book, but it could have been better.
--
Laurie Brown, Dark Phoenix
Dark Phoenix
It seems like everything Murakami writes is surrealistic, and this is a Good
Thing. But Wind-Up Bird seems to be beyond surrealistic and ventures into
the disjointed and pointless. Most of the author's work makes me go "WTF?"
and "That's so cool" at the same time; this one just made me go "WTF!?!?!?!"
Not the entire novel, mind you, but large sections of it.
The basic story is of a young man who sort of drifts through life, rarely
initiating things, mostly reacting to things. He has quit his job (one of
the few things he initiates) and is a house husband. His cat doesn't come
home one day, and one day his wife doesn't come home, either. His quest, if
one can call it that, is to find both of them. Along the way he meets with
several people with various psychic powers, and discovers that he, too, has
such a power. He doesn't marvel at any of this, it's just the way things
are. The existence of these powers fits into this story and this world just
fine. He takes an Orpheus like journey into the underworld to find his wife,
via an old dry well; he is in two places at once without realizing it. That's
all fine.
What doesn't fit into this story are the war stories-tales of the atrocities
in Mongolia. I don't know if Murakami wanted to warn people of how normal
human beings can turn into monsters during war, and he couldn't come up with
any other place to put it or what, but I never did figure how it fit on any
level. These tales would have made another book, but I really felt they had
no real place in this one. They explained nothing. All in all, a really good
book that needed a really good editor.
--
Laurie Brown, Dark Phoenix
Dark Phoenix
Encyclopedia of fragrance chems, with a history of their discovery, how they
are created, and much talk of chemistry and atoms in this place or that
place. Some on what kind of scents they are used in, and what their various
isomers smell like. Made brain hurt.
--
Laurie Brown, Dark Phoenix
Troia
> Perfumery and Flavoring Synthetics, by Paul Z. Bedoukian. Allured, 1986.
>
>
>
> Encyclopedia of fragrance chems, with a history of their discovery, how they
> are created, and much talk of chemistry and atoms in this place or that
> place. Some on what kind of scents they are used in, and what their various
> isomers smell like. Made brain hurt.
>
In a good way or a bad way?
-- Troia
Dark Phoenix
Bad. My brain doesn't get along with math or chemistry, and the field of
perfumery seems to be littered with those things.
Dark Phoenix
This small book is a fable: "Be careful what you wish for because you just
may get it." It's a bit more than that- we also get "Don't overlook what you
have today because you'll miss it when it's gone"- but not much more.
At first read, the novel seems terribly sketchy. None of the characters is
fleshed out at all. Then you realize that this is on purpose: the nameless
protagonist, having shut herself off emotionally as a child after she wishes
to never see her mother again and her mother promptly dies, doesn't pay any
attention to other people at all and we are seeing the other characters as
she sees them. She is the Ice Queen at heart, caring nothing for others, and
the Ice Queen in body, forever cold.
After she is struck by lightning, she learns of a man who was dead for 40
minutes before reviving, a man who now breathes fire. She becomes obsessed
with this man, and he turns out to be the magic key that thaws her out. At
the same time, her brother (her only family) is dying, her sister-in-law is
having his baby, and her acquaintances- I hesitate to call them her friends-
need her help. I'd like to say that this book is deep, but it's not- she
lives happily ever after, having had a total personality change without so
much as questioning it. It's true, though, that fables don't usually involve
soul searching, but some personality would have been nice. As it stands, my
reaction at the end was "Who cares?"
--
Laurie Brown, Dark Phoenix
Dark Phoenix
A small biography by the son of Vita Sackville-West, the dear friend and
sometimes lover of Woolf. Nicolson's work is not a comprehensive, deeply
researched bio but rather more like the family reminiscences about a
favorite aunt, which is indeed how he viewed Woolf. Yes, he has read the
diaries and correspondence and quotes from them sometimes, but they are not
his focus. His is more an overview of how her life was lived, what sort of
relationships she had with friends and family, what she wanted to achieve
with her writing. The book comes across as sitting down to tea with an
English gentleman whilst he talks about people from his past; he never
ventures into the area of dirty laundry or things that would embarrass- he
maintains, for instance, that her half-brothers could not have sexually
molested her because she did not shut them out of her life, and they were,
after all, gentlemen. Good if one wants a brief bio so as to see what was
going on in her life when she was writing her various books; for more
detail, look to her nephew Quentin Bell's work.
--
Laurie Brown, Dark Phoenix
Dark Phoenix
The Crimson Portrait is Jodie Shield's second novel, and, as in The Fig
Eater, descriptive passages are her forte. Her writing, while in a totally
different genre, reminds me of Clark Ashton Smith's in it's bejeweled
lushness. First she sinks you into the luxuries of a rich Edwardian manor,
then she puts her talents to work on the horrors of war time facial
injuries. One is immersed in the atmosphere of despair that the patients,
doctors and nurses alike all feel at the lack ability to effect a cure.
Plot is minimal, but this time, I think it was meant to be thus. People are
trying to survive this time as best they can. In the main, a very young
widow, honoring her recently dead husband's wishes, has allowed the manor
house to become a make shift hospital for the soldiers with facial injuries.
In her yearning to have her husband back, she thinks one of the patients is
him, somehow unrecognized by all but her. She realizes that he is not her
husband, and decides to make the soldier over into him anyway. He is the
same build, and his face is damaged and will be covered with a mask. If the
mask is made in the image of her husband, she seems to think, he will become
the man she has lost. Meanwhile, a dentist who has a talent for improvising
splints and other things to help the patients faces heal and an artist who
is working to document the patients healing, and then to make them masks to
hide their injuries, wish to have an affair but do not. Little happens
except in these people's minds and hearts.
This would be fine, except that Shields doesn't flesh out these characters-
at least two of whom are based on historical people. I ended up not knowing
enough about them to care about their misery. I don't know if the authors
sketchiness in filling in her characters is supposed to be artistic, or if
she is unaware of this weakness, but it's a serious one. She has a lot of
talent for writing, but needs to be more aware that we, the readers, need
more than just scenery to regard the book as a solid entity.
--
Laurie Brown, Dark Phoenix
dark_p...@netw.com
"To destroy the Western tradition of independent thought, it is not
necessary to burn books. All we have to do is leave them unread for a couple
of generations."
--Robert Maynard Hutchens.